As a New Orleanian, I really appreciate everyone's support of the city here. Things are hard here for a lot of people- finding housing, dealing with FEMA, getting insurance settlements, but things are really getting better physically. A lot of really good restaurants are open, and I hear the hotels are freeing up, SO PLEASE COME VISIT US! What New Orleans needs right now is not to be forgotten.

I don't have a lot to add to this thread except to echo some of the optimism of others about the future of New Orleans. But at the same time, I feel a horrible sadness for those whose homes were destroyed and probably will never be rebuilt. (And intentional or not, I loved Faina's spelling of rebuilt as "re-billed" because I think there will be lots of bills to be sent and paid in this disaster.)

I grew up not far from New Orleans, north of Lake Pontchartrain where much damage was sustained.

What has impressed me most about that area is that it hasn't been Federal money that is bringing them back to normal. It's neighbors and friends, local and from other places, who have pitched in and helped without any thought of compensation. I'm afraid that ingredient (help from neighbors and friends) is what is lacking in the restoration of New Orleans to its former charm. Why? Because there aren't any neighbors, either. The destruction is so widespread, so total, that no one has a place to start.

I've been back to the area twice and have seen great improvement in the tourist-related areas, but anyone who knows New Orleans will tell you that the soul of the city - its people who live and work there - has been ripped out and will never be the same.